Navigation of an aircraft in a particular airspace requires control in a horizontal component and in a vertical component. Today, conventional moving map displays assist a pilot in navigating airspace by displaying an overhead perspective of an aircraft and surrounding terrain. For example, FIG. 19 shows a conventional moving map display 208 with an aircraft icon 210 traveling between a restricted airspace 218; terrain features 214, 216, and 220; and approaching traffic 212. As can be seen in FIG. 19, conventional moving map displays do not show the vertical component of airspace navigation in a manner useful for the pilot.
Since conventional moving map displays do not show this vertical component data, the pilot generally must refer elsewhere to resolve any vertical navigation concerns, e.g., altitude restrictions of restricted airspace 218 or the altitude of terrain features 214, 216, 220 or the altitude of traffic 212. Accordingly, a pilot must typically refer to a conventional paper sectional chart to determine the airspace type and its parameters when approaching restricted airspace or hazardous terrain. Also, a pilot may need to know which altitude to climb to or to descend in order to avoid traffic.
It is accordingly desirable to provide pilots with integrated horizontal and vertical navigation information. This is achieved by providing a dual mode airspace navigation system that displays horizontal and vertical navigation information to the pilot.